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Monday, June 13, 2011

Thank You Death Cab for Cutie

From the SPS press release:

In May, local band Death Cab for Cutie held a surprise concert for Seattle fans, with all proceeds benefiting Seattle Public Schools' lunch program. The concert raised $7,185.06, which will provide a nutritious lunch to hundreds of students who otherwise couldn’t afford it.

The donated proceeds will be administered during the 2011‐12 school year, when kitchen managers at all 20 SPS secondary schools can help students access the funds based on need.

This is the second time that Death Cab for Cutie has donated money to support the lunch program at Seattle Public Schools. In January 2009, the band contributed $2,200 in ticket sales from shows played the previous year to help students access nutritious meals they might otherwise have gone without.

Eric Boutin, Director of Nutrition Services for Seattle Public Schools said: "There's a direct connection between good nutrition and academic achievement, and we appreciate the efforts of Death Cab for Cutie to help ensure our students' success in the classroom."

Update from the Stranger Slog:
Remember Boutin's announcement last fall about how Tom Douglas's chefs will team up with Seattle schools to create made-from-scratch meals in its cafeterias for the first time?

Well, that's already happening. The chefs have been working with the SPS central kitchen team to develop recipes. Boutin says the new recipes will be introduced this fall through "family nights" at six schools where they will be marketed and taste-tested with students and their families. "We hope to have them on the menu starting in the fall," he says. Boutin's team is also working to tie the launch with Food Day on Oct. 24, which will celebrate the connection between food, farmers, and good health.

5 comments:

From today's post: Eric Boutin, Director of Nutrition Services for Seattle Public Schools said: "There's a direct connection between good nutrition and academic achievement, and we appreciate the efforts of Death Cab for Cutie to help ensure our students' success in the classroom."

A "lesson" he should learn when it comes to the people who prepare and serve those meals to the children in this district - he is more concerned with cutting hours and positions of food service people in a "less-than-honest" way...

Uh, Mr. Boutin, there IS also a connection between those who prepare and serve those children - something you constantly ignore...

It is a real shame that a really nice gesture by the band exposes another typical example of the hypocracy of the District.

Unfortunately, Mr. Boutin apparently thought so much of the donated money that he celebrated by giving big raises totalling more than $ 7,900 (per year) to just 3 supervisors (beginning June 1st)in that department that has been shrinking by the day as more kids turn their noses up to the airline food that has led to the staggering loss of $ 600,000 for next year that Charlie has pointed out.

This from a department that was "in the black" this year and that we have heard has "too high labor costs" to give the workers raises.

Hey Death Cab; Boutin cares so much for poor kids that he is doing everything he can to create more of them every day by cutting the hours and benefits of worrking parents in the program and letting food quality slide.

Oh, and, "more adminbistrative staff" in his office is a stated goal of his as well.

Education Acroynms

Advanced Learning - SPS' three-tier program for advanced learners. Made up of APP, Spectrum and ALOs. (Note: the name of the district program is "Advanced Learning Services and Programs" but these three programs fall under "Highly Capable Services" of AL Services and Programs.

ALO - Advanced Learning Opportunity, the third tier of SPS' Advanced Learning program

AP - Advanced Placement. A national program of college-level classes given in high schools.

APP - Accelerated Progress Program. One of the levels of the Advanced Learning Program. NOTE: the name of this program is now "HIGHLY CAPABLE COHORT." This change occurred in 2014.

ASB - Associated Student Body. High school leadership groups.

AYP - Adequate Yearly Progress. Part of NCLB.

BEX - Building Excellence. SPS' capital renovation/rebuilding program that is funded via the BEX levy. Every 3 years there is the Operations levy and either the BEX or BTA levies as those two levies rotate in six year cycles).

BLT - Building Leadership Team. Staff members at a school who meet regularly to discuss building issues.

BTA - Buildings, Technology, Academics. The major maintenance/other capital fund for SPS. Originally BTA was to cover major maintenance like HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning), roofs, waterlines, etc.) but now covers wide swaths of items like athletic fields, technology and funding academic needs.

CAICEE - Community Advisory Committee for Investing in Educational Excellence. Created by former Superintendent Manhas in 2008, to issue a report about reform recommendations for SPS.

CSIP - Continuous School Improvement Plan, the plan for improvement for each school as required by state law.

EOC - End of Course Assessments, given in math and science, required for high school graduationESEA - Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the federal law that governs education, includes the NCLB accountability provisions.

e-STEM or e-STEAM - STEM or STEAM curriculum with an environmental focus.

FACMAC - Facilities and Capacity Management Advisory Committee. A district committee comprises of an all-volunteer citizen group created in 2012 to help bring research and ideas to capacity management issues in the district.

FERPA - Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. A federal law that protects students' privacy

FRL - Free and reduced lunch.

FTE - Full Time Equivalent

FY - Fiscal Year

Highly Capable Services - NEW name (as of 2014) as umbrella name for these programs: Highly Capable Cohort (formerly APP), Spectrum and ALO (Advanced Learning Opportunities).

HSPE - High School Proficiency Exam, state assessment that replaced the WASL for 10th graders, required for graduation

HQT - Highly Qualified Teacher, a standard set by federal law

IA - Instructional Assistant

IB - International Baccalaureate program. An international program of advanced classes that can either be taken as stand alone or as part of an overall IB program.

IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The federal law that governs special education

MAP - Measures of Academic Progress. A computer-based adaptive assessment made by NWEA and originally purchased by the district for use as a district-wide formative assessment but now used for a wide variety of purposes.

MSP - Measurement of Student Progress, the state proficiency assessment that replaced the WASL for students in grades 1-8

MTSS - Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

NCLB - No Child Left Behind, a provision of the federal education law, ESEA, introduced during the George W. Bush administration